Yes and no, says Peter Bill. As a look at London's delightfully nicknamed towers - the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie, the Cheesegrater - shows, it may take years, and multiple economic cycles for skyscrapers to recoup their investment.

"[W]hy do developers bother building skyscrapers?" asks Peter Bill. An examination of the occupancy rates for four of London's newest towers "show it to be a risky game," he says. "Conception to completion can take more than a decade, ensuring the project is blighted by at least one economic downturn. The four towers examined above have yet to make a bean although all should when eventually filled."
“It’s much better to be the second owner of a tower, not the first,” says Digby Flower of Cushman & Wakefield. “The problem is you never know when in the cycle they will be delivered. But the big thing about towers is they have a 100-year lifespan and get reincarnated every 25 years.”
Bill compares the costs versus returns for vertically- and horizontally-oriented large buildings. "So a groundscraper costs £100 million to build and ends up worth £375 million," he concludes. "A skyscraper costs £125 million to build and is then worth £325 million."
"Why build skyscrapers? Lack of land, obviously. But there seems to be some sort of man thing going on here as well, doesn’t there?"
FULL STORY: Property: High-rises strive to meet lofty aims

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

Seattle Builds Subway-Sized Tunnel — for Stormwater
The $700 million ‘stormwater subway’ is designed to handle overflows during storms, which contain toxic runoff from roadways and vehicles.

Feds Clear Homeless Encampment in Oregon Forest
The action displaced over 100 people living on national forest land near Bend, Oregon.

Is This Urbanism?
Chuck Wolfe ponders a recommended subscription list of Substack urbanists and wonders — as have others — about the utility of the "urbanist" moniker.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
Tyler Technologies
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions